abbey orchard community garden, westminster a... · 2017-03-08 · abbey orchard community garden,...

Abbey Orchard CommunityGarden, Westminster

Remodelling of this small internal courtyard space was completed in 2004, in associationwith major repairs to sub-surface drainage. Led by landscape architects’ practice FarrerHuxley Associates, the scheme’s brief focused on recreating a garden for residents toinclude an enclosed ball games area (5-a-side scale) along with play facilities aimed(notionally) at children aged between 6 and 12. The design was informed by the sitehistory, and signage at the main entrance makes this explicit with a reference to the‘monk’s vineyard and orchard’. Consultation was carried out with residents, includingchildren on the estate.

The courtyard had been used previously as a car park, ball court and traditional styleplayground, leaving little space for more general recreation. The new layout makes gooduse of existing sight lines through the courtyard, and entrances into the space arealigned with the outer entrances into the courtyard area itself.

The ball games area is laid out on a diagonal axis, which adds a sense of movement to theunderlying geometry of the space and means that it dominates the space less than itmight have done otherwise. Recessed slightly to reduce noise from ball games, it forms aspace in its own right. The play equipment sits informally alongside the ball games area inan area of wet-pour surfacing, and a number of oversized sculptures of fruit (apples andpears) sit at locations around the garden, helping to reinforce the historic conceptunderlying the layout. A hornbeam hedge and planted borders help to define thecourtyard and to baffle noise.

A question remains over how feasible it is to introduce a ball games facility of this scaleand kind into such a high density housing area, on a site where space is at a premium.Noise remains an issue, and the ball court fencing has been upgraded to reduce rattle.

The scheme is drawing young people from outside the immediate courtyard and estate,and some residents feel that these users discourage children and adults who live on theestate from using the space, identifying the need for better provision in other areas.

Creating a new landscape to meet the needs of a large number of residents of all ages ina limited space is difficult, and inevitably decisions can be made that have left somepeople disenchanted.

For more information, contact:Landscape Regeneration Manager, Asset Management, Peabody Trust,45 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7JB, tel: 020 7021 4422, www.peabody.org.ukFarrer Huxley Associates, London office , Unit 4, Union Wharf, 23 Wenlock Road,London N1 7ST, tel 020 7490 3625, fax 020 7490 3626, www.fha.co.uk.

Client: Peabody Trust

Location: Abbey Orchard Road, Westminster, City of Westminster

Designers: Farrer Huxley Associates

Project timescale: 2001–04

Capital cost: Approximately £600,000

Funding: Peabody Trust

104 Design for Play: A guide to creating successful play spaces

Annex A

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The layout has been carefully designed to emphasise pedestrian routes through the garden.

Aerial view of garden.

Giant fruit sculptures provide informal play opportunities. Play equipment between the ball games area and shrub beds.

Annex A

Balmaha Play LandscapeStirling

Balmaha Play Landscape is situated near the shore of Loch Lomond next to a Visitors’Centre. It attracts a mixture of regular local users and visitors to the area. The mainimpetus for the design of this new play space was the connection between land andwater and the way that people through history have lived in the local environment.

The central area represents a beach as the focus where water and land meet, whereboats are hewn from mature trees and launched to fish the plentiful waters. The stiltedstructure echoes the ancient crannogs, which were built out into the water as livingspaces where families, livestock and belongings could be defended. At low water, remainsof ancient crannogs can still be seen on Loch Lomond. Local artists and craftspeoplecontributed to the design and construction of the play landscape, in the dugout canoes,the willow maze and the turfed stone wall.

Balmaha sits in one of the most naturally beautiful and bio-diverse areas of Scotland, yetchildren are often separated from it. The ‘play area’ is designed to be an integral part of thelandscape, giving opportunity for children to experience and care for their environment.

There is a deliberate avoidance of standard play equipment in favour of mounds, dips,copses, wetland, and special places to allow the children to operate in a more authentic‘natural’ environment. The use of the existing changes in level, of natural materials andundulating surfaces aims to provide a stimulating landscape, where children canexperience the irregularity of life, and develop the real skills and abilities to assess risk.The play area is unfenced, blending naturally into the surrounding area and welcoming allcomers. The design aims to create a play landscape that is a space that adults will enjoysharing with their children whether they are local residents or visitors.

This project was supported in important ways by the Loch Lomond and The TrossachsNational Park. Its strong community development programme led to local communityinitiation of this project and sustained involvement with its development.

For more information, contact:Children’s Services – Play Services, Stirling Council, Unit 12, Back O’Hill Industrial Estate,Back O’Hill Road, Stirling , FK8 1SH, tel 01786 430120, [email protected] Gutteridge, Play Consultancy, tel 0131 662 9984, [email protected].

Client: Stirling Council

Location: Balmaha, Loch Lomond

Designers: Judi Legg, Play Space Designer, and Mike Hyatt, LandscapeArchitect

Project timescale: Main contract completed in 2004, but work continues

Capital cost: £45,000

Funding: Stirling Council; Stirling Landfill Tax Trust; Leader Plus(European funding); Scottish Natural Heritage; LochLomond and The Trossachs National Park; Stirling CouncilLocal Community Development Fund


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Carved longboats at Balmaha.

The hammock, Balmaha Play Space.

Equipment nicely located, close to a tree. A fallen tree encourages jumping as well as climbing.

Annex A

Bus Station Skate ParkMilton Keynes

Years of use by street sport enthusiasts had taken their toll on the city’s infrastructure.Street sport enthusiasts were as concerned about the levels of damage as theauthorities – they had never set out to vandalise the objects they use, and were keen tosee them enhanced and protected.

An area at the former Central Bus Station was identified as a possible location forfacilities, and negotiations took place with building owners English Partnerships. Thespace was already legendary in the street sport community, and had been skated formany years since its construction in 1980. A key concern was to create a new facilitywithout losing its familiar feeling and quality. The heritage of the place had to berespected, and the local street identity needed to be reflected in the overall design.

An innovative approach was needed to engage members of the street sport community.Branding and communication were important strands. Using techniques established instreet subculture – email, texting and logos (tags) – a communication and brandingframework was devised. The SK8MK ‘brand’ was instrumental in holding the processtogether. The SK8MK message, ‘Your city, Your sport, Your future, Get involved’,encouraged people from the street sport community to participate in the process.

The new facility was purpose-built as a ‘street style’ facility, which recreates theenvironment and furniture of street skating. It is constructed from concrete, granite,terrazzo tiles and stainless steel. The robustness of the materials, combined with thesmooth surfaces they offer, provide a very good play value for skateboarding. Thematerials used are of good quality and employ a carefully selected palette ofconstruction materials, which complement the existing architecture of the city.

The central location of Milton Keynes Bus Station Skate Park is key – it creates a placewhere young people feel secure, rather than isolated in a remote corner of the park. Thefacility provides a challenging experience for young people and a place to meet friends.

The site blends so seamlessly with the location that people often say: “Is that it?” or“Where is it?” The facility does not detract from, but enhances the existing site.

For more information, contact:Senior Landscape Architect, UDLA, Development and Design, Environment Directorate,PO Box 113, Milton Keynes Council, Civic Offices, 1 Saxon Gate East, Milton Keynes,MK9 3HN, tel 01908 252270, [email protected].

Client: Milton Keynes Council

Location: Milton Keynes

Designer: Richard Ferrington and Rob Selley

Project timescale: Design started in early 2004 with construction takingplace between January and March 2005


Funding: English Partnerships and Milton Keynes Council withadditional funding provided by EBMK.


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The site blends well with the surrounding streetscape.

Improvising with ‘loose parts’. Structures have been designed and specified to a high standard, and to stand up tohigh levels of usage.

Annex A

Climbing ForestCoombe Abbey Country Park

Development of the detailed design for this scheme was carried out in close co-operationwith English Heritage and the local Conservation Officer, to ensure that the finishedscheme was appropriate for this Listed landscape. Consultation with park users, includinginterviewing carried out by teenagers, identified that more adventurous provision wasneeded for older children.

The Climbing Forest consists of a number of tall oak posts set into the ground,supporting a complex network of ropes, nets, rails and ladders, each set at varyingheights. At over 4 metres tall and with a diameter of approximately 300mm, each of theseposts echoes the form and density of the surrounding tall trees. The untreated posts,with their natural finish, blend naturally with the surrounding oak forest, and though thebark has been removed, their tree-like form makes the posts recognisably only a few(manufactured) steps removed from the surrounding tree trunks.

Though at design stage the feature was aimed predominantly at children and youngpeople aged between 8 and 15, the Climbing Forest now caters for all ages, includingadults in their twenties. The Climbing Forest is consciously ‘non-age-specific’ inappearance. It attracts boys and girls equally.

The Forest is carefully designed to accommodate a very wide range of abilities, with thelowest and highest climbing elements as low as 0.5 metre and as high as 4 metres aboveground level. Children exploring the equipment are encouraged to work within theircapabilities and to stretch themselves – when they are ready.

The scheme has been very carefully designed to provide an exciting and challenging playexperience for older children. The manufacturer carried out a full risk assessment of theequipment throughout the design stage. Hand-holds in timber, and knots in climbingropes, are carefully located and dimensioned to permit access at the lowest levels foryounger children but to prevent their access to higher levels where longer legs and astronger grip are essential for their safety.

The number of claims against the council has fallen since this scheme was implemented,compared to those arising from use of the existing traditional style play area. Vandalismin the woodland areas has also fallen since the scheme’s completion

For more information, contact:Coombe Abbey Country Park, Brinklow Road, Binley, Nr Coventry CV3 2AB, tel 024 76453720 Coventry City Council, [email protected], www.coventry.gov.ukTimberPlay, Aizlewoods Mill, Nursery Street, Sheffield S3 8GG, tel 0845 458 9118www.timber-play.com.

Client: Coventry Council

Location: Coventry

Project timescale: January – July 2006

Designer: Coventry City Council/TimberPlay


Funding: Coventry Council Parks Service, capital works budget


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There’s room for lots of people to use the Climbing Forest at the same time.

Collaborative, social play, for girls as well as boys. Challenging play for older children too.

Annex A

Chapelfield Play AreaCowie, near Stirling

In 2000, a child drowned in a farmer’s pond in Cowie, an ex-mining village near Stirling.This tragedy prompted residents to campaign and fundraise for a local play area.

A suitable site was identified – the site of a neolithic settlement that was ofarchaeological significance and therefore not available for housing. Although childrenalready played there, the site was contentious because it was adjacent to the pond wherethe child had drowned. It took time to work through painful feelings about the drowningand to achieve design solutions that addressed safety issues, without compromising thechildren’s need for independence and to experience challenge and risk.

Ideas from a visit by local children to a pre-history park and information about the site’shistory have been built into the park design including shelters, cooking and seating areas,and a raised beach, along with mounds, tunnels, slides and a climbing wall. The designcontains elements which feel familiar to the children who were involved. Relatively fewpieces of equipment are set in a succession of carefully inter-connected spaces. Quitedramatic changes in level have radically changed the previously flat site. Although the siteis quite small, the feeling that ‘there’s always something round the corner’ encouragesvisitors to explore. The routes through the site invite the use of bikes and wheeled toys.The natural elements include ditches which can hold rainwater for a short time.

The site was originally treeless. Local children were involved in planting rowan, birch,Kilmarnock willows and Japanese maples. These planting sessions included environmentalgames, explanations and discussions about the importance of trees to wildlife and topeople, the reasons for including native species, and how the children could help to lookafter them. The hedge that reinforces and will eventually hide the fence between the playarea and the farmer’s pond includes blackthorn, hawthorn and dog rose. There are alsoattractive shrub areas of witch hazel, holly and honeysuckle.

Some initial problems with misuse/over enthusiastic use of the site in the evenings byteenagers were dealt with firmly and constructively by local residents who have takenresponsibility for locking the park at night.

For more information, contact:Children’s Services – Play Services, Stirling Council, Unit 12, Back O’Hill Industrial Estate,Back O’Hill Road, Stirling , FK8 1SH, tel 01786 430120, [email protected] Gutteridge, Play Consultancy, tel 0131 662 9984, [email protected].

Client: Stirling Council

Location: Cowie near Stirling

Designers: Judi Legg, Play Space Designer, and Mike Hyatt, LandscapeArchitect

Project timescale: Planning started 2000. Opened 2006

Capital cost: Approximately £110,000

Funding: Section 75 (Scottish equivalent to Section 106) housigdevelopers’ contributions; BBC Children in Need; StirlingLandfill Tax Trust; Cowie Play Areas Group fundraising


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General view from site entrance.

Semi-circular walls set into the mould are climbable on the inside face.

Plenty of room to ride a bike too. Balance features alongside the footpath draw the visitor into the site.

Annex A

Cowley Teenage SpaceLambeth

Snug and Outdoor were contracted in the summer of 2003 to consider improvingprovision for teenagers as part of a wider refurbishment project on the estate.

The aim of the project was to engage young people on the estate in an imaginative designprocess which ensured that their needs were at the heart of the new scheme to build anoutdoor space for teenagers. The core of the consultation took place on the proposedsite itself, which became a large-scale experimental area for two weeks. Objects such aslarge wooden cubes, ramps and platforms were utilised by the teenagers to shape thespace for themselves and try out new ideas.

In addition, the Cowley Teenage Space website provided an interactive forum for theexpression of opinions, and this also allowed the young people to post their own photos.With a multi-generational population, it was seen as crucial that everyone who had a viewwas able to express it.

The young people were keen to have their ‘own’ space, but wanted to ensure that the newlayout would not be so exciting as to attract large numbers of visitors, even gangs, fromoff-site, and they wanted the space to be used flexibly and for different functions. Andthough ball games were to be provided for, the aim was that these should not dominatethe space to the exclusion of other activities.

The new layout included a small combination ‘low-key’ ramp and mound; a 5-a-side footballpitch and basketball area, and better entrances and planting around the boundary. Twodifferent sitting places were also included, specially designed to accommodate thedifferent ways in which boys and girls socialise – boys tend to sit in rows, and girls preferto sit in a huddle.

The layout successfully accommodates both space for ball games and quieter socialspaces for children and young people to sit and chat, as well as a feature for bikes,whereas most ball games areas have only the one function.

The Teenage Space has been redesigned to a high standard, and for the young peopleusing the site this is appreciated – high quality design and materials tell the young peoplethat they are valued. Complaints about teenage behaviour have dropped considerably,along with a decrease in vandalism and graffiti.

For more information, contact:Snug & Outdoor, 127 Rathcoole Gardens, London N8 9PH, tel: 020 8374 2176 fax 0870 706 4654, [email protected], www.snugandoutdoor.co.uk.

Client: Estate Management Board

Location: Cowley Estate, Brixton Road, LB Lambeth

Designer: Snug and Outdoor

Project timescale: Project completed in 2003

Capital cost: £100,000 for whole scheme (plus £12,000–£15,000 forconsultation/and Snug and Outdoor’s design work)

Funding: Estate Management Board


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Ramp for wheeled play is also a place to meet.

Seating alongside the ball games area.

Informal seating/shelter structure.Entrance to Teenage Space: high quality design and specification.

Annex A

Cutsyke Play ForestCastleford

Cutsyke, once a thriving West Yorkshire mining town, is now classed as an area of highdeprivation where children’s play facilities were, until recently, virtually non-existent.

The Cutsyke Play Forest – a 400-square-metre play forest with no designated ways inor out and no prescribed routes to follow – was the first community-led scheme to becompleted as part of The Castleford Project, a major regeneration initiative involvingChannel 4, Wakefield Metropolitan District Council and supporting agencies.

The local community played a leading role throughout, from the initial design and planningstages to completion. Children were at the heart of the project, and selected the finaldesign from a number of plans submitted as part of the Channel 4 project.

The process of design was unusual and of interest for a number of reasons. The designwas the subject of a competition, where the brief was written between Wakefield MDCand the community. The children of Cutsyke then chose the winner, Architects Allen ToddAssociates, who had subcontracted the design to Landscape Architects Estell Warren.

Sutcliffe Play was contracted to develop the concept play forest design, essentiallyconsisting of 6-metre poles, platform, slides and netting into a scheme that could bebuilt. This involved an elevated open platform 4 metres above the ground, which couldhave been interpreted as contravening the European Standard EN1176. This problem wasovercome by a RoSPA risk assessment of the scheme, which decided that the benefitsoutweighed the risks.

The success of this project depended on the close working between all partners from anearly stage in the process.

The project has been successful in transforming former derelict council allotments intoa showcase play scheme that has attracted interest from all over the world. Althoughdesigned for older children, with an adult scale to it, younger children are also attractedto the play forest, underlining its appeal to the community as a whole.

Cutsyke Community Group, with members aged 7 to 74, has taken complete ownership ofthe forest. The group has been presented with the Duke of York Community Initiativeaward in recognition of ‘outstanding work to support and develop its local community’.

For more information, contact:Sutcliffe Play, Sutcliffe Play Limited, Waggon Lane, Upton, Pontefract WF9 1JS tel 01977 653200, www.sutcliffeplay.co.uk.

Client: The Castleford Project

Location: Cutsyke, West Yorkshire

Designers: Steve Warren, Estell Warren and Sutcliffe Play

Project timescale: The project was completed in April 2005


Funding: Wakefield Metropolitan District Council and supportingregeneration agencies


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Cutsyke Play Forest and log seats.

Even young children can reach right up to the top. Graduated risk and challenge for all ages.

Annex A

Diana, Princess of Wales’Memorial PlaygroundRoyal Borough of Kensingtonand Chelsea

Soon after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, it was decided to commemorate her lifeby creating a high quality children’s play space in Kensington Gardens by upgrading anexisting facility on a site at the north side of the Gardens.

The scheme’s layout was based on the story of Peter Pan (author JM Barrie had livedoverlooking Kensington Gardens and often spent time there), and a number of elementsfrom this classic children’s novel appeared in the scheme: a pirate ship and treasurechest; teepees; and a ticking crocodile, lurking half-buried in the sand.

The main objectives of the scheme were to create a play space which would be asinclusive as possible, so that all children would feel welcome and ready to explore, whetherdisabled or non-disabled. It would provide a wide range of play opportunities, and a varietyof different spaces – busy and quiet; peaceful and noisy. It would allow children toexperience and enjoy natural elements – especially working with sand and water – andfacilitate creative play, with children choosing how and where they wanted to play withoutthe need to be dependent on adult assistance.

The site has been hugely successful, with around 3,000 children a week enjoying this playspace. High levels of usage have meant that there have been some concerns with waterquality. These have been dealt with by converting the recycling/filtration system with anon-recycling system using water from a borehole in the Gardens, with the water runninginto soakaways (via the sandy areas which provide so much play value).

Equipment provided for access by wheelchair users has been designed carefully so that italso appeals to those on foot. Firm, smooth wheelchair-accessible paths connect themain sandy spaces where wheelchair users can, with assistance, play in the sand alongwith non-disabled children. Impact absorbent sandy surfacing doubles successfully as aplay feature in its own right.

Play-related desire lines have appeared through planting in numerous places, and thesecould now be accommodated by revising the layout locally, as appropriate.

For more information, contact:Land Use Consultants, tel 020 7383 5784, www.landuse.co.uk.

Client: Royal Parks Agency

Location: Kensington Gardens

Designer: Land Use Consultants

Project timescale: Inception early 1999; project completion 2000

Capital cost: £1.2 million

Funding: The facility was funded by the DCMA/Royal Parks Agency


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Through the main activity on the site focuses on the pirate ship there are plenty of quieter spaces too.

Sand is used extensively as an impact absorbent surface with lots of ‘creative’ playvalue.

A drinking fountain like this can be a simple way of incorporating water into a site. Artist’s aerial perspective view of playground.

Annex A

Dilkes ParkThurrock

Dilkes Park, was chosen in the mid 1990s by the Cleaning and Greening Department atThurrock Council as the best location for new teenage provision. A combination of all-weather surfaced ball courts, floodlighting, and new youth shelters encouraged youngpeople to move their activities out of the town centre and into the park.

One early teenage shelter in the park was not, by itself, enough to draw teenagers awayfrom the centre. New shelters around the ball court were designed in close consultationwith the young people, to allow both inside and outside use, and to include multiple exits(to discourage bullying). Two structures were included to accommodate more than onegroup of teenagers at a time.

The introduction of ball games areas and shelters was carried out alongside gradualrefurbishment of the existing, nearby play area. This facility was a small, fenced play area,surfaced in rubber tiles. The council removed the boundary fencing, replaced some of therubber surfacing with bark chips and, over time, extended the play area by adding otheritems of equipment. This is an ongoing process. Wherever possible, old equipment is left inplace so new items add to the play opportunites on the site.

New equipment has been located at a low density in between existing mature trees.The lack of boundary fencing combined with careful locating of the equipment meansthat the play space has a natural, informal quality that is very appealing. Without anydefined boundary, the play area blurs into the surrounding parkland. The massing of thetrees means that not all of the equipment is visible together, which positively invitesexploration. Footpaths through the park wind through the play space, informally, andthe presence of passers-by makes the space feel safer.

Locating equipment informally within a natural environment has given the facility a strongsense of place. The approach to refurbishment does not depend on large capital outlaybut can be implemented in an incremental manner as funding becomes available. Rubber,sand and bark have all been used as safety surfaces, giving a more varied feel.

For more information, contact:Veolia ES Cleanaway Mardyke Trust, Parish Farm, South End, Much HadhamHerts SG10 6EP, tel 01279 84 3675, [email protected] Council, Civic Offices, New Road, Grays, Essex RM17 6SLtel 01375 652350, [email protected].

Client: Thurrock Council

Location: South Ockendon, Essex

Designers: Thurrock Council’s Cleaning and Greening department (AndyFurze, Head of department 1990–2002, with Peter Scott andPeter Golding); since 2002 Carol Spencer, project officer

Project timescale: Regular changes since 1990

Capital cost: £109,000 between 1998 and 2008 (ball court, shelters, sandvolleyball court, play equipment)

Funding: Since 1998 all capital funding has come from Veolia ESCleanaway Mardyke Trust (Landfill Communities Fund)


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Equipment is located informally between trees.

Without fencing the whole woodland becomes part of the play space. This bench was installed in consultation with a local special school.

Annex A

Horsham ParkHorsham

Horsham Park’s new play space is seen as a great improvement on the previous facility,which was a traditional play area, largely surfaced in rubber wet-pour. The constructionof the new Leisure Centre on the site of the old play space made replacement essential.

The aim was to provide a breadth of play opportunities for all children aged from birth to14 years. A deliberate decision was made to move towards creating a play ‘experience’rather than a play ‘area’. The site is characterised by gently rising topography, with goodviews over the park, as well as a small number of mature trees. The new layout is designedto take advantage of both these aspects. Some equipment was retained and relocated.New equipment was placed within the remodelled hillside, which was carefully designed toenhance the existing tree planting. A ‘valley’ running down between these trees becamea dry ‘river’ filled with sand and crossed by a bridge, designed by a local wood sculptor.

‘Zoning’ the equipment geographically, means there is no need for internal fencing toseparate different age groups. Planting and ground modelling help create the feeling ofdifferent spaces and places to go to. Young people over 14 are also welcome.

The site is located close to a café and toilets and the new Leisure Centre and swimmingpool. People now visit from as far away as south London, and use other park attractionssuch as the children’s maze, a sensory garden, and children’s entertainments.

Staff are delighted with high levels of usage and continuing positive feedback from users.‘Effort put in at planning and design stage and also in consultation has allowed us to lookat the project in a holistic sense – this has allowed us to achieve so much more, for notmuch extra cost.’

The involvement of local artists, especially a wood carver, has introduced some unusualand tactile structures (seating and a bridge). These have not been any more expensivethan off-the-peg items but are unique to this site.

The large sandy surfaces are enormously popular with the children, and have proved to besimple and inexpensive to maintain. The dry garden area and interpretation boards haveprovided an additional educational element to the play experience.

For more information, contact:Parks Community Liaison Officer, Horsham District Council, Park House, North Street,Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1RL, tel 01403 215201, www.horsham.gov.uk.

Client: Horsham District Council

Location: Central Horsham

Designer: Landscape Architect Arlene McIntosh

Project timescale: Project completed in 2003

Capital cost: £230,000 for whole scheme (including £130,000 forrelocating existing play equipment and purchase of newplay equipment)

Funding: From a parks capital budget


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The bridge by a local woodcarver forms part of the entrance into the site.

Planting makes the setting for equipment both attractive and playable.

The totem pole sits surrounded by a lush planting scheme specially designed to needlittle watering.

The play space includes different types of surfacing, to increase the variety of playexperiences there.

Annex A

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